Manchester United managed to secure a point at Premier League leaders Liverpool after playing to an entertaining 2-2 draw on Sunday evening.
Premier League
Teams: Liverpool 2-2 Manchester United
Date: 05 January 2025
Venue: Anfield
United were able to call upon Bruno Fernandes and Manuel Ugarte once again after the pair were serving a suspension on Monday night, while were boosted by the return of defender Ibrahima Konate.
The Reds nearly got the breakthrough after 14 minutes when Ryan Gravenberch did well to play in Cody Gakpo, who steered his attempted lob just wide with Andre Onana rushing off his line.
Ruben Amorim's charges were quite happy to sit back and soak up the pressure while trying to cacth their opponents on the counter-attack with Amad Diallo and Rasmus Hojlund's pace.
After waves of pressure, United should have taken the lead five minutes before the break when Hojlund was slipped through on goal, but the Danish strike was denied by Alisson Becker in a one-on-one situation.
That all changed five minutes after the second period, as Bruno Fernandes did well to slip in Lisandro Martinez, who rifled the ball past Alisson for only his second goal for the club.
Six minutes later, the home side were back on level terms Gakpo did well to skip past Matthjis de Light before sending a superb strike into the top corner, with the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) approving the strike.
Liverpool were then awarded a penalty after De Ligt was deemed to have handled the ball in the box after a VAR review. Mohamed Salah stepped up and fired home his 18th league goal of the season with 20 minutes left on the clock.
The Red Devils were not to be outdone as substitute Alejandro Garnacho did well to pick out the run of Diallo, who fired home a first-time finish with ten minutes left on the clock.
United should have won the game in the final minute of time added on when Joshua Zirkzee unselfishly teed up Harry Maguire in the box but the defender blazed over the target from close range, as the two sides settled for a share of the spoils.
Here's how they line up:
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk, Konate, Robertson, Mac Allister, Gravenberch, Jones, Diaz, Salah, Gakpo
Manchester United: Onana, Mazraoui, De Ligt, Maguire, Martinez, Dalot, Ugarte, Mainoo, Amad, Fernandes, Hojlund
